A man convicted of assault last week was found dead in his apartment Tuesday in Parkersburg, West Virginia.
Jerry Lewis, 60, was indicted in August 2011 for the non-fatal shooting of his wife, Connie, and the theft of $1,200 worth of checks from her purse, according to a previous Post article.
Lewis was charged with assault, theft and forgery, felonies of the second, fifth and fifth degrees, respectively.
Lewis pleaded guilty to the charges in the Athens County Court of Common Pleas on Sept. 17, reaching a plea agreement with the state. Under the agreement, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Michael A. Prisley recommended a four-year prison sentence.
Lewis was placed under a release on recognizance bond forbidding him of contact with firearms.
At the time of his death, Lewis, a resident of Millfield, was living in Parkersburg, W. Va., for his job at Lowe’s Home Improvement, according to Meg Saunders, assistant Athens County Prosecutor.
On Friday, Sept. 20, a fellow Wood County citizen filed a protection order against Lewis, claiming that Lewis had threatened and harassed him.
In response to the complaint, Saunders filed a motion to revoke Lewis’s release on recognizance bond. An arrest warrant was requested, but Lewis refused police entry into his apartment when they arrived.
A single gunshot was heard, and Lewis was found dead inside with a bullet wound to the head.
“It is an unfortunate outcome,” Saunders said.
The Parkersburg Police Department ordered an autopsy of Lewis’s body and is expected to issue a press release once the autopsy is complete.
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